RPLog:Vengan in the Halls of Healing
A full room in a more secure wing has been set aside for a special occupant. Vengan Draelis sits in a reclined bed that would look comfortable save for the array of medical and sensor equipment mounted to it. Soothing lights, warm, moist air and a gentle thrumming sound keep the muted colors in the room as relaxing as possible, helping to promote healing mentally and physically. It appears that the Jedi are working on both his body and mind, trying to repair the damage to his physiology while trying to undo his mental torment as well. A wall of display monitors display an odd coiling mass wrapped around his upper spine, clearly a foreign component to the Marine's body. He is stripped to the waist, wearing only a simple cloth wrap around his hips for modesty's sake. His eyelids flutter as if he's in the grip of a haunting dream. Among the Jedi who've been called in to treat this new patient are those with specialized skills, surgeons and Healers of the body, and Jessalyn Valios, whose skills of mental healing are well-known among the members of the Healers Circle. While the Jedi work upon him, paying attention to his reactions and the readouts on the monitors, Jessalyn is seated in a chair by his bedside, her eyes closed, her hand wrapped around that of their patient. "This is Malign's doing?" she asks, glancing up to Alika Kiben, the Chief Healer, who nods toward the monitor displaying a computer readout of his body scan. "What is that?" Jessa asks, staring at the foreign object visible wrapped around the top of Draelis' spine. Alika peers at the screen again, her nose wrinkling very faintly in thought- giving the distinguished human an oddly pixie like quality. "We think it's a Sith Snake," she says almost sorrowfully. Her cultured alto carries around the room with the quiet assurance of an orchestral conductor. "A creation of Malign himself, a... part of him that he implanted into our friend here." She gestures at Draelis before returning her attention to the scanning equipment. "It seems to have wrapped itself around his seventh vertebra and joined with his central nervous system. The blood sample shows increased serotonin, testosterone, adrenaline..." she sighs quietly and looks at the obviously tormented Marine. "And beyond that, it stinks of Malign and the Dark Side of the Force. I imagine it's what drove our friend here to do what he did." She glances at Jessa, then turns to address her. "It's like a splinter in his brain. It's been working deeper and deeper for months, now. I imagine that these feelings have been building for a long time. We missed it on our first pass because it was still gestating, and, well..." she shrugs at the tremendous amount of scar tissue on his naked torso. "He's not exactly a picture of health." "Do you think it was intentionally triggered to go after Kreldin?" Jessa wonders, staring with faint horror at the screen and shaking her head. "Or was it just a coincidence that he hit the breaking point right about now?" She looks down at the marine's tormented face and body, keeping her fingers clasped around his as though keeping that connection might somehow comfort Draelis even in his unconscious state. "I'm afraid that unless this... Sith Snake is removed, any work I do to repair his mind will be temporary at best. Alika... you're going to have to operate and get that thing out of this poor man." Alika brushes her fingers across Draelis' brow, eyes lidding as she reaches out with the Force. She recoils very faintly, then opens her eyes and looks to the monitors, repressing a shudder. "I think Malign left latent instructions in Vengan's brain," she says. "Linked to trigger when a certain set of conditions were meant. There's no telling what- maybe mention of a trial." She shrugs. "It never occurred to us that he might do that, so we didn't prepare Vengan against those kinds of programmed impulses. We will this time." "This snake, though..." she frowns, thinking. "I don't know if we can remove it. I'm not even entirely sure -what- it is. It looks like a cancerous growth, but it's completely integrated with his spinal column. I'm worried how much damage we'll do to his body if we remove it. Right now, I don't see a way to do it without crippling him from the shoulders down. And for him, I think that'd be almost as bad as dying," she remarks, sorrowfully. Jessalyn fights back an annoyed reaction. They didn't think of that possibility? Why the hell not? It was exactly the type of thing Malign would do, and she grits her teeth that no one thought of it at the time. "Do your best, then," she says, her own voice tinged with sadness. "Do whatever you have to do to help him deal with what Malign throws at him." Jessa herself is still not fully recovered from her run-in with the Emperor, her skin faint with scars left by the Force Lightning burns, her body still drained and weak from the ordeal. "If you can't remove it," she ventures, frowning, "then find some other way to render it harmless. Find out how it's working and untie those connections. I want Vengan Draelis to be a free man." She glances at Alika, her expression stern despite the fact that the Healer is an old friend and colleague. Alika puts a gentle hand on Jessalyn's shoulder. "We're trying, my friend," she assures the woman. "I have never seen anything like this before. This is some Sith devilry almost wholly of Malign's devising. I had to spend hours in the Archives just to find out what it is." She shakes her head, hand withdrawing. "What's odd is how... quiet it is." She indicates the mass with a pointer on the display. "It is almost entirely nerve cells. No muscles, no ganglia, only rudimentary circulatory systems that are integrated with Vengan's. It's like a second brain at the base of his spine. And it's... oddly quiet," she says, frowning and tapping her finger to her chin. "I can't make heads or tails of it yet. We'll get a neural fix on it once he wakes up." Just barely able to refrain from admonishing Alika, Jessa bites her tongue and turns a smile to the smaller blonde woman when she touches her shoulder, nodding her head slowly. "I know you are. I'm sorry." Listening as the Healer goes on to describe the nature of the growth on Vengan's spine, Jessa gazes toward the display and folds her arms. "A second brain," she repeats, shuddering inwardly at the thought. "So Malign's trying to grow us new brains to circumvent the first one? Sweet Maker, Alika. How are we ever going to stop him?" She'd had her opportunities, to be sure, and at least once she'd thought she'd defeated him once and for all. But Malign is like the lowest order of creature on any inhabitable world, the scavenging insects and rodents that spread plague, disease, and misery, and yet themselves cannot be extinguished. "Let's make sure that it stays quiet. I don't want that thing going off and giving any new orders." She sighs deeply and turns to look at the marine again, placing his hand gently between both of hers, projecting the warmth of hope and comfort through the Force directly into the man's very flesh and blood. "How long till you can wake him?" Alika considers. "Soon, I think. We have a neural inhibitor in place on the mass. One of our young Padawans had the clever idea to modify a spinal block pulse array and apply it to the entire mass, which will at least make sure that it can't send any new suggestions to Vengan. We've undone the mental damage... it'll take some therapy to help him remember everything, but I daresay we can at least try to wake him up now." She nods at Jessa and begins the process of awakening the Marine, lights dimming slightly to reduce the return to consciousness. Relieved, Jessalyn sighs quietly. "All right. It sounds like you've made considerable process. As long as you think it's safe to do so..." As the lights go down, she turns her gaze to the sleeping marine, feeling the subtle ripples in the Force as Alika begins to bring him back to a conscious state. Jessa keeps hold of his hand and watches his face with earnest concern and care, keeping that gentle current of ambient, reassuring energy flowing through him. Draelis' eyes flutter for a moment. His breathing gradually quickens, then suddenly turns into heaving gasps. Like a man awakening from a nightmare he comes awake with a strangled cry. The prosthetic arm rattles and shakes as it too returns to life, plates and actuators whinging and straining against the bonds that hold it immobile. Draelis struggles against the leather restraints on his wrists and chest for a few wild-eyed seconds before reality comes crashing down. His heaving chest glistens with perspiration from the few seconds of terror and he closes his eyes and swallows heavily, trying to marshal his fear. The other Jedi have backed off as Alika goes to waken him, but Jessalyn stays seated by his side, waiting with a patient, composed expression on her pallid features as he comes to with a jolt of fear. Not until he's past struggling and becomes somewhat calmer does she try to speak to Draelis. "Captain," she says, still clasping his real hand, even as it strained and and pulled against his bindings. "My name is Jessalyn... I want to help you. You're safe. You're inside the Jedi Temple. No one can harm you here. What do you remember?" There's odd feelings coming from Draelis. His emotions are powerful... too powerful. Almost uncontrolled. Fear, anger, sorrow, rage, lust, joy... they are coming fast and fluctuating so quickly that it seems impossible that he can be experiencing all of them. There's a taint on his spirit, palpable to any Jedi- the Dark Side of the Force, wrapped around him like a shroud. And there's something else. Another presence. Muted, but hungry. It voicelessly seems to demand something, even while wracked with fear and confusion. "Wrista." His voice is a harsh crackle, hoarse as if from disuse. He squints against even the low lights, but forces himself to look at Jessalyn. "Where's Wrista. Is she ok?" he asks, raspingly The empathic Jedi flinches visibly at the onslaught as she senses Draelis' waking emotions, her breath catching in her throat. She's never sensed a deluge of powerful feelings all at once like that, and can't imagine experiencing such a thing and not going mad. She has to shield herself from it, keep her mind from being pulled in by that torrent of overwhelming emotion -- but not before she senses that other presence. "Yes, she's fine, Captain. Don't worry about her, all right. We're just concerned about you right now..." She forms her words carefully, modulating them with the Force, so that her voice takes on a calming, meditative quality. "What happened, Captain Draelis? Do you remember?" Draelis reaches around him with his eyes closed, as if looking for something that's missing. "I ... I tried to kill Danik. It was my mission. I had a mission to kill Danik." He starts searching more frantically, eyes now darting around. "Ipex got in my way. We had- I had to do my mission. The mission." He clenches his eyes shut and tries to put his palms against his brow, but the restraints hold him in place. "We... I... I don't... where is it?" he says, feebly, almost crying. "It needs me, I can... I know it needs me. We need it. We are hungry." AliAlika starts and looks at the monitors as new neural activity flashes across the screen. Draelis starts twitching as she adjusts something, then chokes and muscles strain across his body. "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" he starts crying out, over and over. A desperate wail escapes his lips and he throws his whole body into a hard arch against the bonds, the straps cutting into his skin until slow trickles of red cross his body. Alarmed, Alika adjusts something on the screen and Draelis almost instantly relaxes, still whimpering quietly as tears streak his cheeks. "Oh it hurt... it hurts so much," he sobs, softly. Alika looks at Jessa, stricken, then shows the Jedi the monitor. She had turned up the neural interceptor that kept the snake subdued, in the moment before Draelis had begun screaming. The interceptor had now been turned to off. Red lines limn his outline on the monitor, showing heightened neural activity all through his brain- and down in his spine, where the snake is tied into his body. Jessalyn's green eyes focus on Vengan's face as he starts to ramble on, and she's not even sure he's aware that she's really there despite how she keeps trying to gain his attention. She lets go of his hand finally and stands up, leaning over him, her hands moving to his shoulders and pressing upon them for a moment -- until he starts to cry out. Jessa jerks back out of the way, stricken by the onslaught of pain emanating from him all at once, and only once Alika has adjusted the controls and he calms back down does she approach him again, resting a damp cloth across his brow and frowning as he sobs and gasps for breath. Sighing, she turns as Alika takes her arm and follows her to the readout panel. "So we can't inhibit it?" she asks worriedly, glancing into the other woman's blue eyes. She coils her hand into a fist and rests it against the console, gritting her teeth in frustration. "There has to be something we can do for him, Alika." Alika goes to work. It's a while before she returns, and her face is grim. "I'm at a loss, Jessalyn," she says, quietly. The Jedi's face is drawn, and she's even holding a cup of caff- a sure sign she is having difficulty coping with stress, as it's a habit she has rarely indulged since joining the Order. "Right now, it's helping to regulate a large part of his anatomy. It's as if it's replaced parts of his medulla oblongata, cerebrum, and cerebral cortex, and co-opted those functions to his spinal column. It will take weeks- months, maybe- of therapy to restore those connective tissues," she says. "The pain alone might drive him insane. It's like a scab on his mind- we have to keep ripping it open and making sure it heals correctly, all the while making sure that... that thing, won't hurt him anymore." She passes a palm over her brow. "I don't know what Malign's plan for that snake was, but I'm beginning to think it might have backfired. It's not only supplementing his nervous system, it's actually helping to improve things slightly. I estimate his reflexes are anywhere from ten to fifteen percent faster than they were before. And that arm..." she glances at the limb, which even inert moves and clinks like a living thing. "It's as alive as he is," she says, almost whispering it. "It's growing and changing, and I think that thing on his spine- the parasite- is helping with the process. It's regulating the Sith artifacts that Malign put into his body, the ones that we kept expecting to fail?" she asks, redundantly. "Some of them have even grown back. As much as it pains me to say it, it's an amazing creation, despite who created it. And..." she looks at Draelis, then drops her voice so only Jessalyn can hear it. "I'm pretty sure it's -sentient-." What little color was left in Jessalyn's face drains out of it, the Jedi's hair growing fiery in comparison to her shocked and worried features. "Dear gods," she murmurs, raking her hand back through her hair and leaning against the console wearily. "Do whatever you have to do. Make him comfortable. Try to get through to him and tell him what is happening to him. I want him to know what the treatment is, and what the risks are. I don't want that... implant to hurt him anymore either. But our duty right now is also to make sure that Malign -- via Captain Draelis -- doesn't hurt anyone else, either." She swallows hard and watches the readouts as Alika goes on talking about the other Sith implants, but her eyes widen as the Healer reveals her suspicion. "It's an intelligent, aware... thing?" she says, almost dumbly, glancing back at Draelis upon the table with undisguised horror on her face. "I sensed another presence in his mind..." "It's hungry." Draelis' voice is weak, but there's a note of firmness behind his raspy tones. He keeps his eyes squinted against the lights- now almost completely off- but forces himself to speak. "It... Malign put it in me when I was his assassin. It was supposed to bind me more closely to him. But I was rescued before it had finished... growing. He never got a chance to put himself 'into' it." He forces his eyes open and squints at Jessa and Akina. "I remember him speaking about it, but I thought he was trying to be metaphorical." The Marine manages a weak smile. "It... it feeds off of emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger it feels. He said that I needed to feed on the Dark Side to become more powerful. I... I think he really wanted to make the thing more powerful instead. A few days ago it... I don't know. All these emotions just broke loose in me one day. I felt crazed, but totally calm. I was on a mission to kill Danik, and I had to kill anyone who got in my way. If the Chief of Staff had told me to kill Malign, I would have done it just the same way. The... symbiote kept me so keyed up that I never stopped to question what I was doing." He exhales raggedly and sags back into his seat. Jessalyn and another Jedi, Master Alika, are standing a foot or two away from Draelis, listening intently. The other Jedi is a petite blonde with a no-nonsense look about her, wearing Healer's robes with senior marks on them. Draelis looks weak... yet, conflicted, as well, as if overcome with a wide variety of emotions. His expression is grim and haggard, and he's practically bolted to the medical chair upon which he's currently partially reclined. Jessalyn and another Jedi, Master Alika, are standing a foot or two away from Draelis, listening intently. The other Jedi is a petite blonde with a no-nonsense look about her, wearing Healer's robes with senior marks on them. Draelis looks weak... yet, conflicted, as well, as if overcome with a wide variety of emotions. His expression is grim and haggard, and he's practically bolted to the medical chair upon which he's currently partially reclined. When word had reached Solo Base that Draelis was awake, Starwind knew that Wrista would want to know. Waking her up after her three-day pursuit of her fellow marine had been surprisingly easy, though perhaps not as surprising as it should have been, and he gave her a lift to the Temple himself. Now that they're here, the Captain follows along behind the marine, his own limp still present but his cane no longer necessary, his emotions blessedly simple: relief and joy that Vengan had been successfully brought in alive. As Draelis begins to speak, Jessalyn glances back over toward him after sparing a concerned look with Alika Kiben, and she moves back to his side, wrapping her arms around herself as she listens to him speak. "So you were right... it did backfire, because Malign never got to finish the job," she says to the Healer. But when Draelis smiles again, she returns the expression warmly and dabs the damp cloth against his forehead again. "If it feeds off your emotions, then perhaps we... you... can find a way to control it." Much as a Jedi has to be in control of her emotions, she reasons to herself. "Captain Draelis... I know that you haven't been acting under your own volition. And we'll make sure that you receive the best care we can provide. You're not alone in this, hmm? You're going to be all right." She tries to instill conviction into her words for her own sake as much as for Vengan's. Having come down from one of the Temple's towers, Luke notices Wrista and Starwind headed into the halls of healing from a distance, but he does nothing to catch up. His footsteps are slow and measured as he crosses the room, much of his body concealed by the robes that are drawn about him this evening. He comes into view near the end of Jessalyn's dialogue with Vengan, his eyes silently taking in what he sees. He keeps to the back of the room, keeping out of the way for the moment. Wrista, on approach to the Temple, was a little beacon of swirling, hyperactive emotions warring for dominance. The worry, relief, righteous indignation, and overriding bittersweet happiness makes a quick path through the structure as the little twi'lek quite forgets Starwind's limp and scurries along, anxious to find out what state Vengan has woken up in. She in fact, slows down for exactly nothing until she enters the infirmary and has to ask where to find Vengan, since she'd left for the base once he was in Jedi hands. But once she has her answer, she's off again, and approaches the recuperating Marine with a quick little stride. It's not like her to be this anxious, but she's still tired and the whole situation is just not normal at all. It's not every day one has a death-defying fight with such a close friend. Draelis chuckles, wanly. "Thank you. I..." he almost laughs again. "It's like I'm sixteen again," the Marine says, raspily. "Everything's just... bigger. Louder. More important. I want to cry, I want to laugh, I want to fight and fu..." he coughs into his hand, glancing away from a rather cute Jedi padawan healer out of the corner of his eye. "Find new ways to express myself," he says, catching his words. "It's... it's a bit overwhelming." He forces himself to ease back into the seat. "And it's hungry. I can't tell you how much it just wants... it wants to feel emotions. It craves them. It was gorging itself for the last few days." Draelis suddenly opens his eyes and looks directly at Skywalker, and a smile crosses the Marine's face before he leans back and looks at the ceiling again, face resuming its earlier drawn expression. "But I... I don't know what to make of it. I don't really think it's all that... evil," he concludes, whispering. The twi'lek rushing ahead doesn't bother Starwind at all - frankly, he would have been amazed if she hadn't, when all things were considered. No, he has no issues at all, and he takes it as an opportunity to hang back a ways and let her go up to her brother in arms and the two Jedi with him on her own. He glances up when he notices Luke arrive, a smile coming to his face as he moves instead to stand with him, his hands loosely clasped behind his back. "You should be proud of her," he tells the Jedi in a quiet voice, tipping his chin towards Wrista. "From what she said when she reported in, she's been paying attention on her visits here - she got through." The red-haired Jedi at Vengan's side looks up as others come into the room, her own face pale and still marred by a few fading scars leftover from her encounter a few days ago with the Emperor. On top of having given birth little more than a week ago, it's needless to say that Jessalyn isn't her usual buoyant self, both her mental and physical resources drained and on the mend. That's partly the reason she hasn't been able to go into Draelis' mind, not in the state he's in; the uncontrolled torrent of his emotions right now would tear them both apart. But she is still a comforting presence as she sits next to Draelis' bed, patting his hand and speaking words of reassurance. Though as he describes the what he's going through, and Jessalyn can very well sense that flood of longing and intensity coming from him, she finds her cheeks suddenly glowing with color -- almost like the young Padawan that Captain Draelis had just given an appreciative glance. "Well... you survived adolescence," she points out gravely, though her eyes are sparkling. "We'll help you learn to control that hunger, then." Could it be that this implant in and of itself is not evil, since Malign had not yet imbued it? She glances to Alika as she considers this notion, but then movement catches her attention and she looks toward the doorway to see Wrista and then Starwind arrive. "Captain Ipex," she says as she spots the concerned Twi'lek who comes straight into the room, chuckling at the tense ball of emotional energy she manifests through the Force. "Your friend is here, Captain Draelis," she says, giving his hand a squeeze and looking over toward Luke who observes from a distance, cowled and unobtrusive. A half smile peels up the edge of Skywalker's mouth when Draelis looks at him and smiles. He tips his head toward the wounded marine; having yet to learn what Master Kiben may have discovered, he's patient enough to learn in time. Instead, he cants his head toward Starwind, then peers back over at Wrista. "Mmm," he murmurs, and nods his head. "All the more reason to get our hands on those electrostaffs," he comments quietly to Jared. His eyes take notice of Jessalyn, Alika, and the others tending to Draelis, but he does not move closer to intrude, not yet. It seems he merely wishes to observe for the time being. Wrista has one of her patented, brilliant Mynock-eating grins on her face by the time she joins the Jedi attending to Vengan. And it might be a little rude to interrupt, but she doesn't really care. "You," she points at her fellow Marine, "are one stubborn Si--" she catches herself on the natural choice of invective, under the circumstances. "--oooon of a nexu," she finishes, covering the bobble with a bored-sounding Undercity drawl. "Let's not do that again anytime soon, though," she adds, eyeing the arm a little oddly. "Or at least tender a week's notice in advance, huh?" "Wris," Draelis says, and a weak grin crosses his face. He lifts a manacled hand in a wave at the female. "You left something here." He nods at the sugar stick on the table next to him, then shifts a bit in his seat and grins at Wrista, this one almost wholeheartedly. "It's not my fault you missed that pit full of wroolagan vines." His face flushes and the grin spreads again, and the man suddenly chuckles, still weak but suddenly feeling far more heartfelt. He suddenly takes a deep breath and his hands clench into fists. His heartrate skyrockets audibly on the monitors, and it's a long minute before his vitals slow back down. "... sorry," he says. He takes a deep breath and looks at the room again, holding himself in iron control. "Got carried away." He looks at Luke, then at Star and Wrista, and then smiles at Jessa, squeezing her hand back. "I... I don't know how to say I'm sorry enough," he tries, stumbling over the words. He takes a deep breath, and there's a feeling of him trying to marshal his emotions. "I don't... I can't explain what happened. I can't defend it either. I wish I could tell you I feel sorry for what I did, but I don't. I'm just sorry my friends... you," he says, looking to Wrista, "were hurt." "It's all right," Jessalyn says as Draelis begins apologizing again, and she frowns at him as his hand clenches around hers and the heartrate on the monitor grows obtrusively rapid and loud. It would be difficult for someone without the Force to acquire the skills to control that kind of intense flux of emotion; difficult, but not impossible. He is already a Marine, already trained to be in control. With help, Jessalyn is optimistic he'll be able to overcome this strange invasion. As the Twi'lek comes closer, Jessa smiles at her. "Captain Draelis could certainly use a friend right now," she says softly, and then stands from her seat by the bed, offering it to the Twi'lek and then shifting back to stand near Luke, clasping her hands in front of her. "This is troubling, Master," she murmurs, keeping her voice low so that the patient won't hear. Still watching as two close friends are reunited, Luke's attention is otherwise drawn to Jessalyn. His eyes linger upon Vengan, Wrista, and Alika, even while his ear is drawn to Jessalyn's words. "Tell me," he intones, wishing to know everything that Alika Kiben has uncovered, and impressing this upon Jessalyn without resorting to mere words. The twi'lek grins, and winks at the note that she'd left something behind, and even the surge of emotion doesn't wipe the smile from her, though her eyes register the worry, glancing at the Jedi. But Jess is calm, and thus there must not be anything truly to worry about with the spike. Wrista nods agreement at Jessalyn's words, and hitches up on the chair, pulling her legs up onto the seat with her, and steals the sugarstick she'd left. "Well. I thought you might need a friend to wake up to, and I'm probably 95% this stuff by now anyway," she muses. She lets him get through his apologies, and considers him carefully. Vengan... Vengan probably needs to accept responsibility, even if it isn't his fault. Telling him its not necessary just probably isn't helpful. But the can take another track. "Well, you should be sorry," she sniffs disdainfully. "Vakren would spit nails if he saw you fighting like that. I've taken harder falls down stairs," she accuses, then shakes her head, sobering. "You know how it is, Ven. Bruises are transitory. I'm just glad you made it home." That comment does relax Draelis a little bit, and even gets a smile from him. He looks at Wrista and there's an expression of pure gratitude on his face. She gets him better than perhaps anyone else in the Republic. "Me too, Wris. I... I wish I could have stopped myself earlier." He shakes his head and sighs, frustration tinging his words. "Everything made sense in a really, really wierd sort of way." He grimaces and then sags back into the chair again, once more forcing himself to relax by sheer force of will. Starwind's attention moves to Jessalyn - someone he hasn't seen since shortly before she gave birth. His initial happiness at her returned figure is quickly replaced by concern when he notices the scars on her face, but apart from tilting his head at her in silent question, he does not ask. Now is not the time. He is here for Vengan right now, and he and his friend can catch up another time. Soon. In quiet tones, Jessalyn tells Luke about the discoveries that the team of Healers have made, about the sentient "mass" that's wired into Draelis' spine, feeding on his emotions, and how Alika is uncertain if it can be suppressed or removed. "It's going to take time, whatever his treatment is," Jessa says with a sigh, glancing at the Healer to see if she has anything else to add. She frowns toward the table where Draelis and Wrista are talking, then catches sight of Starwind from the corner of her eye and lifts a hand to wave and beckon him over. Luke nods his head to Jessalyn, then quietly excuses himself so that he might go have a quiet word with Alika Kiben. He nods his head a couple of times as she outlines, in detail, everything she has discovered in regard to Vengan and his condition. With it all said and done, Luke is frowning, and he excuses himself to go and join Vengan, on the other side of his bed. "Draelis," he mutters, still frowning. "I should have sensed this. I think I was so pleased to see you back around that I never thought to... look deeper. I owe you my apology." Starwind listens intently, and while he may be no expert in biology /or/ matters of the Sith, it doesn't take much expertise to recognize how serious the matter is. He offers her a small, understanding smile and inclines his head, reaching out to gently touch a hand to her arm. "Healing always takes time, no matter the hurt - but we pull through," he says confidently, taking his hand back as he moves to answer the Healer's beckoning gesture, limping slightly as he goes. Over his shoulder, he adds, "With good friends, we always pull through." Draelis shrugs at Luke. "Somehow I doubt that it occured to anyone to go looking for a sentient symbiote attached to my spinal column," the Marine remarks dryly. He smirks at Luke. "But it is what it is. No point in worrying about it now." There's a flash from his green eyes, an emotion quickly expressed and surpressed in the same instant. Luke grins as well - it falters for a brief moment when Vengan suffers another burst of emotion, but returns nonetheless. "Whenever we get it out of you, we'll send it back to Malign, with a little bow 'round its head and a tub of pastries." He motions toward the Temple proper with his chin. "You need anything, you know where to find me. I'll be coming back around to help Master Kiben, so this isn't the last time you get to see my mug." Without much more to say for the moment, he backs up and casts a friendly look toward the others, but his intent is clear. He slips out of sight, headed back into the temple proper. "Ooh, a *threat*," Wrista teases as Luke departs, wriggling her fingers impishly. "Don't worry, Vengan-- you'll be out of here in no time. You already look like you could pull the ears off a gundark," she says in a reassuring voice... but she's worried, too. Enough that is' hard for the usually-collected twi'lek to keep it out of her eyes entirely. But that's to be expected. Sith symbiote, spinal column... It's enough to give anyone the creeps. "Maybe a good biologist could help," she muses, adding, "somehow..." As Luke confers with Alika, Jessalyn smiles and turns to Starwind. "It's good to you again, Captain. I hope you've been doing well," she says, realizing that a lot has transpired since she last saw him not so long ago. She listens in for a moment as Alika describes the diagnosis to Luke and the Jedi Master and the Marine converse briefly. She smiles at Starwind as he touches her arm and sighs softly. "I hope you're right," she says, trying to sound convinced, and then going quiet once Luke departs the room. "Thank you. Thank you all," Draelis says, smiling at the room. "I don't know how this will work out, but I... I feel better knowing you're all behind me. I hope that someday I can find a way to return the favor." He manages a halfhearted shrug and a wan little smile, lifting his hand in farewell to Luke as the Jedi leaves. "To my brother and sister officers I pledge my life," Wrista says with a grin and a shrug. Understandable that the phrase is on her mind, but it again encapsulates the full situation. She has no doubt Vengan will return it-- those words mean as much to him as they do to herself and Starwind. She unwraps the sugarstick finally, popping it in her mouth. Still coming down off of three days of little food and lots of activity, and her body is positively craving caloric intake. Draelis tugs at the IV needle that's pumping nutrients into his circulatory system. "It's not exactly Marine food, but I guess it does the job," he says, wryly. He leans back into his seat with a sigh, squirming to get comfortable. "You kept up well, Ipex," he tells the twi'lek with an approving smile. "That was a long three days. I think I'd rather go back to Sniper school than make that run again," he adds with a chuckle. With a sharp intake of breath, Jessalyn chuckles at Starwind's proclamation of being always right, her brows arching until he grins and winks at her, and her own eyes sparkle. "We will. You'll have to come upstairs and meet my little Sabine when you have a chance. Perhaps later." She smiles at Starwind and at Wrista in turn, extending that invitation to both of them with her eyes as she withdraws a little from the reunion of friends. "Captain Draelis... I hope you get some rest... Alika... you all know where to find me if you need me," she says with a smile before she turns to head for the corridor. Vengan in the Halls of Healing